An article summarized by Bloomberg:
Microsoft is increasingly replacing AI models from OpenAI and Anthropic with its own in-house MAI models across products like Excel, Outlook, GitHub Copilot, and soon Microsoft Teams. Tens of thousands of AI prompts in Excel and Outlook are already being handled each week by Microsoft's models, marking a significant step in the company's effort to become less dependent on outside AI providers.
The shift is largely driven by cost. Although Microsoft still benefits from discounted access to OpenAI's technology through its long-term partnership, executives are preparing for a future where those discounts may disappear. AI chief Mustafa Suleyman has made reducing spending on third-party models a priority, saying the company ultimately wants to eliminate the money it pays to providers like Anthropic by using its own AI instead.
Microsoft has also accelerated development of its AI models, unveiling seven new MAI models at its Build developer conference in June. The company says one of its latest models can deliver coding performance comparable to Anthropic's popular Opus 4.6 model at a lower cost, underscoring Microsoft's broader strategy of controlling more of its AI infrastructure while reducing long-term expenses.
